Page 64 of Pied Sniper

“No.” Jonathan shook his head. “I only know the stuff we planned in the past with our managers. Tiffany was always hard work, you know? I started avoiding her as often as I could.”

Flavia snorted and rolled her eyes. I’d almost forgotten she was still here but apparently she was listening keenly.

“Was?” I repeated.

“Was. Is. I don’t know.” Jonathan rubbed his head with his hand, apparently unconcerned about the slip.

“Did you get the ring back?” I asked.

“No. I told her I’d be back tomorrow and if she didn’t have it, I’d call the police and refer it to my lawyers. She called me names and told me to get out. I even thought about breaking in and stealing it. What could she do? Report something stolen that she stole?”

“Why didn’t you ask Grace to look for it?” I asked. Glancing up, I noticed Delgado had returned and now stood behind Flavia. His arms were crossed but he didn’t look annoyed at his trip to our building’s reception area.

“I didn’t want to involve her any further. The ring wasforher. Plus, if she wore it, she might always associate it with Tiffany, and I didn’t want that. It should make her feel happy. It’s ruined now anyway. I don’t have the ring and the surprise is gone.”

“Oh, honey,” sighed Grace, “you know I don’t need any of that stuff.”

“Where did you go after you argued with Tiffany?” asked Solomon.

“I went to a bar, then back to my hotel and I was so angry I kept on drinking. Then I went out again and walked around for a while. I went back to the hotel and I couldn’t sleep so eventually, I gave up and I went out for breakfast before I wound up in that bar. You can probably check cellphone records, cameras, something must have recorded me. I hate Tiffany, but I didn’t hurt her, I swear!”

“Can I get this on camera?” butted in Flavia. “Can you repeat everything word for word?”

“No,” everyone chorused loudly.

“We’ll check,” said Solomon. “But you need to tell all of this to the police too. I can have someone take you to the station.”

“But I’ve told you everything,” protested Jonathan.

“And you need to tell the same thing to the police so they don’t waste their resources on suspicion of you,” I added. “We’re working with the police and the FBI so I can call ahead and explain.”

“I don’t know what else I can tell them other than Tiffany is bad news. I’m not sure anything about her is real,” said Jonathan.

“That’s something we keep hearing,” I said. “You spent time together. What do you mean?”

“Sometimes, things she says don’t add up. Like her family. She’s supposed to be an orphan but she changed the date of her parents’ death a couple times and once we ran into someone who recognized her from high school. They mentioned her brother. Tiffany said she didn’t have a brother but I could tell she was lying.”

“Yeah, and how did she suddenly have a grandmother if she had no family?” asked Grace.

“She was totally an orphan,” interrupted Flavia. “We had dinner for the anniversary of her parents’ death. I insisted on treating her.”

“Did you ask her about any of those contradictions?” I continued.

“When I tried, she’d say she couldn’t bear talking about it or just cry and tell me I was an asshole for even asking. Didn’t I understand the ‘burden of grief’ she had to bear? I backed off,” said Jonathan. “I felt bad for her.”

“And you?” I asked Grace.

“The only time she ever talked about them was on camera when she was doing a sob story,” she said.

“Same,” said Flavia. “She never wanted to discuss them. There was only that one time. She mentioned a sister once, but when I asked her if her sister survived, she froze before she said she was referring to a sorority sister. I asked her what sorority she pledged and she laughed it off and said she was messing with me. I never really thought about it seriously until now. It didn’t make any sense then or now.”

“I know you’re investigating, but I think we should talk to the police,” said Grace. “I want to get our names cleared and leave this town as fast as we can. Neither of us wants to be here. I never understood why Tiffany wanted to move here.”

“She never said?”

“Not a word.”

“Lexi will call her contacts and I’ll call a car to take you,” said Solomon.

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